It is common today to provide for the automated acceptance of currency in transactions. For example, transit busses in the United States and Canada are normally equipped with a farebox to collect fares from riders and securely store the coins, tokens, and bills used to pay these fares. These fareboxes are either non-registering or registering.
A non-registering farebox is typically a locked cashbox with an inspection area where the operator can view the monies inserted by a patron to determine if a proper amount has been tendered. After verification by the operator, a "dump" lever is actuated by the operator and the payment is dropped to a cashbox below. These non-registering fareboxes do not count monies, i.e., individual notes and coins and their denominations, accepted.
Currently registering fareboxes are the preferred farebox used in transit busses in the United States and Canada. A registering farebox is generally an electro-mechanical device which measures coins and bills by physical size, drops the coins to an inspection plate in an escrow area, keeps a record of all monies measured and accepted, deposits the accepted monies in a cashbox, and allows the operator to record other limited information using a simple keypad.
Prior art fareboxes make a determination of the value of coins by measuring the coin diameter. Therefore, these fareboxes are susceptible to erroneous determinations when presented objects of similar diameter, such as washers and slugs.
Prior art fareboxes make a determination of the value of notes by making an assumption that all documents inserted into a note acceptor of the farebox which are of a certain length are a particular value bank note, i.e., a one dollar note. However, this assumption is flawed as notes having a same length may be of a different denomination. Moreover, the item, although being of the correct length, may not be legal tender at all.
In order to compensate for the above described deficiencies, these fareboxes display the coins and notes to the operator for verification that valid coins and notes have been accepted. However, with the advent of color copiers and inexpensive desktop publishing, it is very simple to generate a counterfeit note sufficient to fool an operator when presented for verification in the escrow area of these prior art fareboxes. Similarly, as it is generally a number of coins that are tendered and these coins are presented on an inspection plate in an escrow area for viewing loosely, i.e., coins may be positioned in such a way as to obscure other coins, it is very difficult for the operator to verify the coins. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that there is typically a rush of patrons wishing to tender a fare, such as at a busy bus stop, and, accordingly, the operator is not afforded sufficient time to properly verify the monies tendered. Therefore, in addition to requiring a large amount of time and attention from an operator, verification of the accepted monies by these individuals is not very accurate.
After the coins and notes are accepted by the registering farebox and visually verified by the operator, they are dumped into a cashbox as was the case in the non-registering farebox. These cashboxes consist of heavy metal containers with separate compartments for coins and notes. Generally the compartments are of equal size and receive the coins and notes loosely. Accordingly, the notes are allowed to accumulate in any orientation and, therefore, require considerably more storage area than if neatly and tightly stacked.
At the end of a shift or at the end of a day, the bus returns to the garage where data generated by the registering farebox is read, the cashbox is removed and its contents dumped into a portable collection vault containing monies from other such cashboxes, and the cashbox is then replaced into the farebox. The collection vault may include separation of coins and notes or may allow their intermingling. However, regardless of their separation from the coins, the notes are loosely stored, thus requiring considerably more area than if stacked neatly. Moreover, as the notes are loose, they must be stacked and faced, i.e., oriented in the stack to all face a common direction, prior to their being counted and/or sorted by automated systems.
Furthermore, as the monies of a plurality of fareboxes are intermingled, the information read regarding the monies collected by the registering farebox cannot be utilized to reconcile the contents of each cashbox individually. Moreover, the information provided by the registering fareboxes is very limited. Initially it is noted that the accuracy of the amount of monies collected is almost entirely reliant on the verification of these monies by the operator through the glass of the farebox escrow area. Additionally, the information regarding the transactions which an operator may provide is very limited. For example, the number of events or types of fares selectable by the operator is very limited. Expanding the information possible to be entered by the operator is restricted in these systems as the keypad only includes a very limited number of keys for input, the farebox does not provide much information display for the operator, i.e., for prompting etcetera, and the operator's time is otherwise occupied with the task of verifying the accepted payments.
Therefore a need exists in the art for a farebox which provides reliable verification of monies collected, including both coins and notes, without the need for operator intervention.
A further need exists in the art for the automated verification system of the farebox to determine not only the validity of notes, but also the denomination of the notes.
A still further need exists in the art for the farebox to interact with patrons and operators to efficiently conduct transactions, such as through rapid acceptance and verification of monies, meaningful messaging to the patron and operator including displaying a tally of verified monies, allowing the operator robust information input, and compact storage of accepted notes and coins so as to present a unobtrusive farebox as well as to necessitate its emptying less often.
A yet further need exists in the art for the farebox to be adapted to allow for accurate reconciliation of the monies collected including robust storage of information with respect to transactions, identification of a cashbox in which the monies are stored, and reliable information regarding the amount of monies collected.